The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which monitors rates for vessels moving dry bulk commodities, edged up on Thursday, driven by gains across all vessel segments.
The main index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 49 points, or 2.5%, to 2,046 points.
On Tuesday, Washington and Beijing began charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil.
“Container freight rates are on a more positive trend, driven by disruption brought on by Chinese port fees just as US port fees took effect,” analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
The capesize index rose 142 points, or 4.9%, to 3,058 points.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $1,173 to $25,358.
Dalian iron ore futures extended declines to hit a more than six-week low on Thursday, weighed down by the anticipation of falling demand in top consumer China.
The panamax index rose five points to 1,826 points, its highest since September 26.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain, rose by $47 to $16,433.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose four points to 1,422 points.
Source: Reuters
